Waking Olympus (The Singers of the Dark Book 1) (7 page)

She passed Tei another drink. Tei had no idea where she got it from, she didn't have it a moment ago.

"I have heard so many interesting things about Traders. Is it true you travel all the way east, past the Eastern Desert? That you worship Zeus?" She took a sip, held the pose, waiting for Tei to take a sip. It looked like a white wine, it had the taste of sweet wine with extra alcohol. What was the bet dear Liz was drinking colored water?

"No, we haven't been beyond the Eastern Desert. We know what was once on the other side but no one has returned from expeditions to the East. As for Zeus, we respect Zeus, but we don't worship him."

Liz looked quizzically at her. "Does that mean he is real but not a god? Or just another god who you don't bother worshipping?"

She laughed suddenly, then caught herself. The typical laugh Bethorese use when they dismiss outsider ideas as primitive and superstitious.

"And you have a city in the desert, Tanten, I believe?"

"Yes. Our capital is Tanten in the Eastern Desert."

"Must be small. A desert can't support many people. So, Tei, how big is it compared to say the village of Fairmeadow, which you pass by in the Gap? Smaller? Same size?"

"It is big enough for us, Lady Markham."

"Don't be so formal. We are all friends here. I just want to get to know our friends from the East." She smiled. Tei gritted her teeth and smiled back.

"I must introduce you to some friends of mine, Tei." She waved her arm at someone across the crowded room.

Two young men in formal ornate Bethor uniforms made their way across the room, each a full head above everyone else, a blur of red, black, and gold.

Liz, conspiratorially, whispered in Tei's ear, hand on her shoulder. "They're brothers. Can't you tell? They are magnificent, but don't tell them that. You know what men are like."

It was a setup and Tei knew it. She just had to ride this dust storm out to the end. And smile all the way.

There was some typical small talk as the two men introduced themselves. They were Brian and Roberto Hammersli, Bethor aristocracy, officers by appointment and welcome in the Royal Court of the High Emperor of Bethor.

"Ah yes, we were talking about Tanten. I would like to visit it sometime. But I don't know how to get there. What is the best route Tei?" Liz said. An obvious invitation for them to add pressure on her.

Roberto added his voice. "Oh, Tanten. I've heard of it. A friend said he visited it. Just headed southeast from the Eastern Caravanserai."

Tei smiled. "Don't believe everything you are told. I am unable to tell you the way to Tanten. It is just a place in the desert, no valuable land."

Liz leaned in to her, her smile vanished for an instant then returned, "but you see my dear, there are stories of treasures and knowledge. There are so many who would like to visit to see it. You do have a library don't you?"

"I thought Bethor had the best library in Arva?" Her irritation was starting to show, those words were unwise.

"It does. But you know it would benefit us all if our scholars could safely visit other libraries and museums, especially those of the Traders. Perhaps we could arrange a cultural exchange to strengthen our friendship?"

"I don't think that will be possible, I fear. Only the council can authorize visitors to the Library. They are strict and do not listen to a mere Ambassador such as myself."

It was getting too much. Three against one.

"Pardon me. I must be going now. I have to make arrangements to take a caravan tomorrow morning. I will have to be up early. Good night, Brian, Roberto, Ms Markham. Thank you for the party, it was most interesting."

She got out the door. Took a deep breath of the sour town night air. Briskly down the steps and through the gate. Night, dim yellow street lights, lamplight through distant windows, acrid smoke rising above the city from hundreds of small home fires. Some stars above showing through the murk, always the stars watch us, she thought. She got into the nearest carriage and headed back to the Caravanserai.

The Emperor of Bethor, Karl Maximilian Pederson, was young. Liz regarded him as a rather foolish, immature, distracted man of 23, or a boy pretending to be a man. Her own family's history no doubt darkened her view of him, she didn't care. His dark hair, green eyes, rugged looks were praised by many women in the court. Their fawning almost made her gag. He claimed an interest in the arts, could paint, write a decent sonnet. She thought him a decadent who did not understand the forces at work in his own realm.

Now he wanted to meet her. She had never met him for any serious discussions, she was always in the background.
Better for me to spy on you.
She thought.

However, she needed to curry favor with him, especially when his 'advisors' were about. His advisors: the Secretary Kahl Enoos, Treasurer Vinnis Ortens, Securitor (Head of the Ministry of Order, secret police and propaganda) Tovan Frisch. Frisch was an ally and seemed not to share his emperor's hopes for peace, or else he was duping her. Stories of his excesses with female prisoners were legendary and likely true. She suspected he was waiting until he could have her body all to himself on a rack in the dungeon away from prying eyes, when she was no longer of use in his plans. They were all a pack of jackals, one day they would get an appropriate reward.

Frisch had been pushing the recent propaganda messages, designed the banners himself, so he said, arguing to the Emperor that it would be followed by a new program of 'greater understanding for our brothers on Neti'.
True enough, there will be greater understanding, when we are in control, probably after a lot of blood has been shed
, she thought, suddenly grateful that the Ancient mind reading tech of legend no longer existed.

"
Lady
Markham, I have heard you have been raising the readiness of our troops in the vicinity of Lindin, is this true?" The Emperor asked as if he was discussing the flowers in the Imperial Gardens. The way he pronounced 'Lady', mocking and questioning, was a reminder that her family had a question mark over it, that her demonstrated loyalty was paramount no matter how talented she was as a general.

He went on, converting the question to a rhetorical one and this meeting into something more sinister.

"Remember who your Emperor is. I know you want to recapture old glory or something. But there is nothing out there. The Cities are poor. What could you possibly gain from them? The climate is so variable lately we can't even rely on their grain shipments. Good heavens, they have become a liability, not an asset."

"I am maintaining my army's readiness. Regular drills and so on."

"Don't lie to me, Lady Markham. I know you are up to more than that. What are you doing?"

"As I said drills, because I do not trust the Cities. Also, there may still be knowledge left in the Cities. If we look properly instead of just sacking them like we did last time."

"That was centuries ago, I doubt there is anything left in the ruins."

"Maybe, but if we don't look we won't know. They are also a stepping stone."

"To what?" He said.

"If we control all the Cities, including Sanfran, we can control the Eastern Caravanserai whenever we want. Choke or tax the Traders into submission. Find out where their damnable Tanten is located, then lay siege to it or subvert it. They must have lots of secrets." She was starting to flush with anger. She slowly took a few calming breaths while he rambled on.

"And what are you going to do even if you succeed, after you have wasted all these resources? Do you think Tanten knows where to find vast metal deposits? Or hydrocarbon reserves? Do you think they have stashed away warehouses of intact Ancient photovoltaics?"

Composed again she continued. "By controlling trade we will also bring The Center to heel. Then we can access their knowledge and skills."

"Without energy and resources what do you think will be achieved by that?"

"It's better than slowly going downhill! This situation enslaves us all. We are running out of options. We will all end up paupers." She said.

"By
we
do you include the commoners? There is no need to share knowledge with them, the more ignorant they are the more compliant they will be, I would not be surprised if that is the Center's rationale for its aloofness. There will always be the rulers, and the ruled. Just remember your place. You must cease this little project of yours, yes I know of it. Let it die. Go now, you have your orders."

She bowed, and walked out, smiling. He clearly didn't know anything about her 'project' otherwise she would be dead by now, she thought as she left the building.
I know my place, boy. Don't get too used to that throne.

She laughed.

Morning prayers are a traditional Bethor practice which takes place when the sun is at fifteen degrees above the horizon. The Traders also follow a version of the ritual praying to the gods usually at sunrise but sometimes when the sun is at the thirty degree mark. The Bethorese had water clocks and other more precise mechanisms, purchased from Lind to work out these important times on overcast days but the Wizards themselves only used them for more practical tasks.

There was a brisk morning breeze kicking up a little dust, blowing from behind as he faced the rising sun, probably a sea breeze. The sun was rising through the Gap; at a few degrees above the horizon the effect was deserving of worship, beautiful almost divine. He had been here early enough to see it, but for some reason that was not the time when most of the worship occurred. He turned to the west, he was facing the gateway to the Caravanserai, he was wary about entering, mostly because he didn’t know if there were some customs that forbade Wizards and their minions intruding on periods of worship; he remembered the rumors about Wizards told to him by his mother and the darker ones from his uncle. He had almost laughed at the mention of 'minions', just as well he had some sense. The tales about Wizards seemed so bizarre, thinking of them as a Wizard himself. Such legends did affect the attitudes of others and the taboos that they would impose, best to keep his identity secret. He smiled inwardly, he was acting just like some of the legends, going 'hidden amongst the ordinary folk', however not because of power but because of vulnerability.

He started walking and entered the Caravanserai. He noticed that there were groups clustered here and there, offering prayers to different deities, represented by figurines on the tops of poles. There were Neochristians and similar, Buddhists, and inevitably prayers to Zeus. There were the familiar Pantheists of Lind and Tanten, hence the sunrise worship. Mikel himself had tasted various religions while growing up but had come to the conclusion that any real god would be more impressed by him acting as a decent human being than mumbling formulaic words at the local patch of sky.

The Caravanserai itself was an odd arrangement, it was a rough wooden palisade on the outside, more of a formal border marker than anything else, and inside were tents, wooden huts, some larger wooden structures, all looked temporary as if it could disappear overnight and leave nothing but a dusty field by next morning.

When time had just passed for the morning prayers he proceeded in the direction of the hexayurt. He had never seen the design before and thought it must be a Trader invention though Tei would later tell him it was an ancient design from Earth.

Approaching the yurt he noticed unfamiliar Traders inside. He was about to enter, there was nowhere to knock, when he heard Tei behind him.

“Psst. Mikel. Over here.” She was about ten meters behind him.

“I am only the Ambassador when meeting you for the first time. Now my mission requires me to be merely a Trader. Others now have the role of Ambassador. We meet and transfer the role. You should probably write that down. This is the first day of your lessons about the trade routes and Traders.”

He supposed that perhaps a Trader Ambassador was only concerned with Trade. Or maybe, he could just admit he had no clue and should ask when he had the chance.

The rest of the day was spent following Tei and listening in as she negotiated horses and camels. He had never seen either creature before coming to Bethor. Now they were everywhere. It was fascinating and appalling, as it usually is when you discover a profound ignorance in yourself. Apparently, there was a complex ritual of handing over horses or camels when the caravans arrived at a destination. The creatures would be fed and rested, taking weeks or even months to recover from the longer journeys. Then when a return caravan of the same clan was leaving, a payment would be made for the agistment and the animals would once again come under the control of the family. This way a family could build up a network of available stocks of beasts to maintain the trade routes and survive dry or difficult times. Dealing with Traders was highly ethical since anyone who wanted to live would never double-cross a Trader, and in response Traders also were highly ethical since they applied the same strict standards to each other. It was a case of mutually assured trust.

That night he did not return to the inn but stayed in the Caravanserai. He had thought they would have left today but this was also part of the leaving and Tei wanted him to experience it. The camp was like a very large tent city with lots of things going on. Noises of people laughing, arguing, drinking, lovemaking, carousing but mostly singing. Smells of smoke and cooking and animals. It was pure transience and yet the Caravanserai endured, a shimmering entity of campfires that was more than the present occupants.

Above him were the stars. It was quiet now, the various fires were barely more than embers. There was no tent. Just stars above and a bedroll. Tei was a couple of meters away. He presumed she was awake, he had seen the reflection of the dying fire on her eyes, she too was looking at the stars.

“I should take some measurements of the Constant Star.”

She rolled over, facing him, her body a silhouette of mystery. All he experienced was her disembodied voice.